Ann's blog

unconscious mutterings 339

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Taxman :: April 15; H&R Block; Jack E; IRA; retirement plan; tax shelter
   
2. Material :: matter; solid; liquid; gas; plasma; stuff; text
   
3. Format :: hard drive; essay; term paper; 200 word paper
   
4. File cabinet :: organized; folders; locked info; SSNs; office
   
5. Ignore :: shun; avoid; does not exist to me
   
6. Super! :: awesome; great; wonderful; terrific
   
7. Fireproof :: safe; not flammable; not inflammable
   
8. Blockbuster :: video; movies; Titanic; Star Wars; Jaws
   
9. Snooper :: looper; pooper; spy; nosy nose
   
10. Good will :: peace, good will toward men, or peace to men of good will; donations; thrift store; used clothes; used books; kitsch
    

testing for second gup

Testing today was awesome, and everyone did really well.  No mishaps, no contact during non-contact sparring (not always the case, unfortunately), no major injuries.  Well, not today anyway.  In the previous month about six people (self included) suffered some sort of foot injury: twisted ankle, broken toes (I caught my big toe on the mat, which sort of stubbed/jammed it up pretty good).  Poor Mr. F, twisted one ankle 2 weeks ago, then last night at practice tore up his pinky toe on the other foot -- he doesn't know which way to limp now, but he still soldiered on and tested for Third Dan (third degree black belt) today.

First was forms (or kata for the Japanese practitioners).  The board called the third, fourth, and fifth gups all together, that's the lowest rank of red belt, and both ranks of green belt.  There's only one each of the green belts, so they might have been a little self-conscious performing alone.  So then we red belts find out we're going to get tested on our cumulative knowledge, and do the green belt forms with them, and suddenly what was supposed to be two forms turned into six.  Unexpected, but we all did well with the pop quiz.  I had suffered some insomnia earlier this week, and one of my techniques to combat it is to review all my forms, so I had that going for me.

Nothing unusual in the one-step sparring, self-defense, free sparring, or terminology sections.  Breaking is always exciting, and sometimes in the past I've choked and not been able to carry through.  This time though, they say the boards were good and light, and my foot went through first time on both the jump spin back kick and the round kick -- like buttah, as they say.  One 1-inch pine board has about the same hardness as a human rib bone.  At the next testing in November, one of our breaks will be wheel kick -- that's the one Chuck Norris uses so often in Walker when he spins around and clocks a guy on the chin.  I need a lot more practice -- but not tonight.

book notes: Anathem

Anathem

Finally finished this, after starting like a month ago.  I'm a slow reader, and the book is almost 900 pages, but it is well worth the investment of time and effort.  As I think back to my experience of reading the story, it really seems to be several different styles combined into one long narrative.  It starts as a spec-fic cultural examination, with a bit of philosophical dialogue.  Then there's a section of grand adventure and survivalism.  Then a great turn into full-on scifi, with some more philosophy (which gets really thick around the 600s, but press on and don't give up).  The wrapping-up chapter (denouement if I remember my terminology) was not quite satisfactory to me, but after the actions and ideas that were explored in the previous pages, I can't think that any "ending" would suffice (plus, I knew what was coming -- maybe if I'd been surprised, I would have liked it more).

I really wish Neal Stephenson would write a blog.  I understand his reasons for not doing so, but I still wish it.

Next: The Amber Spyglass (Philip Pullman) or Artemis Fowl.  Or maybe A Canticle for Liebowitz.

why am I awake?

I got an email from my boss yesterday asking if I could cover a summer course.  She sent the email around noon; for some reason I never checked my email till 10pm.  So now I don't know if she found someone else, but just in case I'm the last line of defense, as it were, I'm trying to be ready.  Oh yeah, the class starts at 0840.  But that's all I know -- I do not know what classroom, whether they met earlier this week (surely they must have), or how much they have covered.  So I sit here, checking my mail, to see if I have to get dressed, or if I can go back to bed.

No reply yet.  *sigh*

sad day

One Sun Beh Nim's (one of the younger black belts, but not yet old enough to become an instructor) father passed away last week.  The service was today, and several of us from the school attended.  It was a Baptist service, which went on for two hours!  Also, something that made me ill at ease from the moment we sat down: there were no Bibles or hymnbooks in the pews, no offering envelopes, nothing.  The choir sang Amazing Grace to start the service, but I didn't recognize their second verse at all, and the third verse was just the phrase "Praise God" over and over.

There were lots of ministers who spoke, but they didn't seem to want to give comfort to the family.  One "evangelist" spoke about people talking about the departed behind his back, and having preconceived notions or somesuch.  Another minister, with lots of snow on the roof, as they say, spoke slowly and softly, and often about family discipline.  All the speakers were intent on mentioning his family, apparently since he had like 9 children, but they never really mentioned anything about the man himself, which is so unlike the (thankfully) few funeral services I've attended.  I think if I were one of the survivors, I would not have been comforted -- I do hope the family today was familiar with that preacher and his style, and did take comfort, and if not in his words, then at least in the support the congregation was offering (there was quite a large crowd).

B has a hatt, baby!

Disneywood

I know I'm not original in my composition here, but it came out pretty well, with a few exceptions.  1. B has his sunglasses on his forehead instead of his eyes.  2. Nephew J is completely out of the shot!  I was so focussed on getting the hatt right, I forgot about the shortie in front.

I'm really kind of surprised at how large and clear the picture is, considering it came from my camera phone.

And now for something completely different: hatt-baby

Hatten är din!

Disney recap

[I apologize in advance for this long post; look for another in the near future with pics from my cellphone]

Last weekend was my spring break, and my parents took the whole family to DisneyWorld in Florida, the first family outing we've had as adults, and with J's son too.  At first, when this trip was first announced (over a year ago and also delayed because of the birth of my niece), I was a little dubious about going to Disney as an adult, but it was family time, and it didn't really matter where we were for that.

So, our flight to Orlando was supposed to leave here at 0620, so we rolled into the car around 5am.  Turns out our flight was delayed, and we didn't actually take off till around 0930, which made us miss our 0900 connection.  The Continental people had rebooked us for a 1600 flight, but suggested we might get standby in Houston.  Turns out there was a cancellation for the noonish flight, so we were able to get those two seats.  Landed in Orlando about 1600, but Mom et al. decided to go ahead to Epcot w/out us (took a while to check in with the Disney bus system and actually get to our resort, the Caribbean Beach).  So we got all checked in at the hotel, then killed time walking around the resort, lying in a hammock on the beach (bliss), and finally met Mom et al. for drinks late.  That was Saturday.

Sunday we had reservations for breakfast with characters, who scared the nephew.  Ah well, it was a good buffet.  We spent a lot of time in Disney Hollywood -- Indiana Jones stunt show, Star Tours (we never made it to the green moon of Endor), Terror Tower (cool ride, but SpaceCamp's 0-g simulator is better), Toy Story.  JBJ left -- little J was getting worn out -- so Mom and Dad went with us to play mini golf, where we all got a hole in one on the regular course (not counting the ball return) and a keepsake goofy golfball.  After that was extended hours at Magic Kingdom for those of us with Park Hopper passes (that was us).  I have to say, if you have the endurance for the extra late hours, it is quite worth it.  Lines were a lot shorter, not to mention the weather was more pleasant.  The only bad thing was that Space Mountain broke down.  It could have broken with us on it though, so we weren't too upset.  We left there around 0230, and were up again at 0830 to go right back.

Monday morning at Magic Kingdom, evening at Epcot.  I wish we'd had more time for epcot, because we didn't get to see very many cultural things: Japanese taiko drumming, and candy art; German drinking songs at dinner.  The temperature dropped hard, and I had not packed a jacket of any sort, so Mom and I now have matching german hoodies.

Tues morn, had to return to Magic Kingdom to pick up a picture from Splash Mountain.  Package Delivery didn't open till noon, which was about when we should have been back at the hotel to check out.  Fortunately someone in Guest Services was able to get into the building and get our pics.  That guy was awesome.  We dinked around there for a little bit, and that park was a LOT more crowded than it had been on previous days -- maybe an effect of the weather, no one wanted to be at the water parks.  We went back to the resort and got some lunch at the food court.  K decided he wanted to walk to where the airport shuttle would pick us up -- turned out to be a longer walk than anticipated.  We got there almost exactly at one, and found that there was no room on the bus for us!  Stupid tour group having all kinds of people in it.  JBJ were supposed to be on the same bus, but they got bumped too.  While we were chatting, came to realize that we had the wrong travel info from the travel agent (we had booked our own flights, but sent the info to her so she could coordinate with Disney).  Silly me, hadn't printed out the flight itinerary, expecting to have internet at our hotel room -- but $10 for 24hrs of service.  NBL!  So, what I had thought was a 1600 flight was actually a 1500 flight -- and we were sitting on a bus at 1330.  So much for leaving three hours for checking in!  We got to the Continental desk, and a kiosk was open.  Security didn't take too long, and we walked up to our gate about the time they were loading passengers.  It was a big plane, and they had not even gotten to our row yet, so it all turned out fine.  Home around 1900.

Woke up with a head/chest cold on Wednesday.  Still suffering and coughing today.  At least I wasn't laid up in Florida.

QotD: Have You Ever Walked Out of a Movie?

Have you ever walked out of a movie?
Submitted by Jack Yan.

The Craft

Primal Fear

Not often, but once memorably, from The Craft.  Angsty teenage witches on a mission of vengeance or something.  I was with my friend Shelley, and maybe Mary Lou (can't remember now), but we gave The Craft about 20 mins, and decided it wasn't worth it.  We remembered that a movie with Richard Gere was starting about that time at the theater next door, so we swapped over.  Turned out to be Primal Fear, which was riveting and a much better choice for our entertainment dollar.

cutthroat

Unconscious Mutterings -- week 322

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Road trip ::  interstate; Camden; mobile in Mobile; New Orleans; the dream of California


2. Pool hall :: Tony Tuna's (aka Johnny Tona's); ricochet; masse; behind the eight ball; loser racks, winner smacks; too much cut; this cue goes wrooooaw


3. Extraordinary ::  out of this world; gentlemen; fabulous; fantastic


4. Jackson ::  Michael; Mississippi; students;


5. Heartfelt ::  song; prayer; pledge; promise


6. Wet ::  nose; pool; exercise


7. Strangle ::  Boston; choke; gurgle; Amok Time


8. .com ::  bubble burst; .org; .edu; .gov;


9. Touched :: by an angel; poked; in the head;


10. Insipid ::  is not inspired; brownnoser;

oh the dilemma!

NEROHouston (that's our live action role playing group) is holding an event this weekend (Feb 21-2).  There are two Mardi Gras parties this weekend.  NERO's next event is March 20-22.  We test for the red belt in Tang Soo Do March 21. 

We don't really want to miss two NERO events in a row -- that's like missing two episodes of an arc-based TV show (think of missing two eps of LOST!).  But there's free food, and beer, and cheap plastic beads, and sleeping at home in bed, and live music, if we go to Mardi Gras.

Decisions, decisions.

I guess maybe we will miss the parties this year -- we have already seen two parades, and gotten some decent beads from them -- although we will be sad not to have the cameraderie and socializing.